Shadows
by TheWonderWoman
Summary: Memories in the world of Walkers can be a haunting thing, shadows if you will. Especially the memories of those close to you. This is a brief glimpse of your life and how you met Rick and his group, people who let you survive and gave you hope. Walking Dead x Reader story.


**Hey there! This is my first Walking Dead fanfiction, though I do have other stories. I've really gotten into the show and I wanted to try writing something for it. I'm not exactly sure when or where this takes place, but I do know it's sort of Season 3 ish.**

 **This is more of a Walking Dead x Reader story. So you choose weather you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, (y/n)= your name, etc. I hope you like it! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

You lay there in your sleeping bag, roots of a tree at your back. Stars peek through spotty places in the trees. Sleep should come easy but it doesn't, not even with the others around you. Not even with the warmth from the small fire nearby. Your arms are crossed behind your head as a makeshift pillow and it just feels so empty out tonight. No one dares to speak at the moment, praying the walkers don't come. However, it's not the walkers that scare you. It's what you see when you close your eyes. It's the dreams that come from memories, the ones that won't ever leave you. Memories that force you to see what you have had to do to survive in this new world. Of faces that you long to forget, but can't.

Soon, you can feel your eyelids sliding shut, no matter how much you fight it. Sleep soon pours over you, almost like a creeping fog. Thick and unrelenting. Your mind is a swirl of colors and a memory emerges from several months ago. One that haunts you, even more so when you're awake...

* * *

 _It was a scary night. You and your group had found an abandoned warehouse to sleep in for the night, after clearing a room full of walkers. Each person had their job to do, your (boyfriend/girlfriend) included. All extra doors were shut so no more walkers would get in. For the first time in weeks, everyone was able to take a breath. Although, you sat in a corner away from everyone, head in your hands as your elbows rested upon your knees. Tears prick your eyes, unrelenting and full of agony._

 _Images of your parents and siblings flash in front of your faces. Happy ones and then...Shaking your head, you try to ignore the more recent images of them. Images of snarling faces, discolored eyes and pale flesh. They had tried to come after you. You escaped the taunting of your siblings and your mother, but your father had been quicker and almost bit you._ _ **Bang!**_ _Your father suddenly falls onto you, but soon, someone helps you out from under him. Your (boyfriend/girlfriend) saved you. They had come looking for you and your family as soon as the world was thrown into chaos._

 _What you had to do, still bothers you. There was no way you could leave your the rest of your family to suffer in life as one of those...things. You took the gun from your (boyfriend/girlfriend's) hand and found your mother and your siblings, giving them a way out of the misery...If they could even feel that anymore._

 _"Hey, you okay?" A familiar voice asks as they sit down next you. You look over and see the one that you love. All you can do is shake your head, not wanting to break down. It doesn't help that you're tired. "Don't worry, (Y/N). It's going to be okay. Why don't you get some sleep?" Before you can protest, your body shuts down, and you fall asleep._

* * *

 _You jump awake as snarls and screams mix in the air. When your eyes fly open, even in the darkness and the dim moonlight pouring through the windows, you can see walkers everywhere. For some reason, your eyes frantically search for how they got in and then, you see it. A door hidden away that no one had seen off in the far reaches of the room. Red is everywhere as you get to your feet and barely anyone is left alive._

 _The voice that comes from your throat seems very far away and horse as you try to find your (boyfriend/girlfriend). A growl comes from your left and a walker is advancing on you. Quickly, you grab your knife from your back pocket and thrust it into one of the creatures eyes. You push it off your knife, your hands now covered in the walkers blood as it falls to the floor. A shot goes off behind you and you turn just in time to see another walker fall to the floor. The thudding of your heart is evident as it tries to escape your ribs. Moving quickly, you reach your (boyfriend/girlfriend)._

 _They put you up against the warehouse wall, taking on any walker that would try to advance on you or them. At some point, you had asked about everyone else and you learn that only two had already escaped, but fourteen were dead. The walkers had taken them and it was also evident, that soon, you and (boyfriend/girlfriend's name) would be dead as well. However, your (boyfriend/girlfriend) looks at you over their shoulder and that's when you see it._

 _You shake your head, knowing that look in their eye. They want to give you your best chance and you tell them that there has to be another way. That you don't want to be alone. All they do is quickly kiss you one last time, slipping their gun into your hands. You hear them tell you there are only six bullets left, so you must use them wisely. The air leaves your lungs as you watch your significant other run straight into the middle of the walkers, pulling out their machete, hacking left and right. All the while, they're screaming and making noise to attract the walkers. This leaves a gap for you to escape, but you don't want to._

 _You're not sure what snaps you back into reality, but soon you find your still tired legs are carrying you through the warehouse. On the way, you take out a few walkers with your knife and the butt of the pistol, splattering blood on your already dirt covered face. Soon, you are outside, your stomach turning and it's then that you know you're going to get sick. You fall to your hands and knees in the grass, losing what little you had eaten earlier that night. It's hard to tell when you finally stopped, but you are grateful that you had. However, your heart almost pops out of your chest at the next sound._

 _ **Snap.**_

 _Looking up, you see a man with a crossbow, a woman with short gray hair, and a little farther away, a man with brown wavy hair and rough looking beard. You're not sure what to say as they stare down at you, crossbow aimed at your head. Though, your mind pushes your mouth forward._

 _"Please." You're unsure of why that was the only thing you said or why you said it. Maybe it was so they would send you from this world. Or it was possible that you wanted help...It could have been you trying to tell them that you weren't bit._

 _"Darryl." The woman says, putting a hand on his forearm, causing him to lower his crossbow. "If (he/she) meant us harm, (he/she) would have done something already." The woman looks at you. "Am I right?" You nod vigorously. She gives you a soft smile before calling out to the third person. "Rick."_

 _The scruffy man comes over and eyes you over, speaking with the woman whom you learn is Carol. A mind fog has appeared, the shock of what happened in the warehouse washing over you. You begin shivering violently, tears flooding forth and so do your words._

 _"I have only killed three people...B-but that was so my m-mom and my s-siblings wouldn't have to g-go around as o-one o-of those w-w-walkers...I've only killed seven walkers...Please..." You look up into the face of Rick and you can see the wheels turning in his mind._

 _"Why?" He asks, his voice rough. Your mind filters through its mental filing cabinets and pulls out the only thing you can think of._

 _"I want to live."_

* * *

"Wake up (y/n), it's your turn for watch." Darryl's familiar voice pokes through the night and you jump when his hand touches your shoulder. You sit up and nod, soon standing and stretching out the kinks in your neck. Carol is also on watch with you as the others still sleep. Nothing is said between you as you both are too focused on making sure no walkers infiltrate the camp. You find yourself thinking about your memory and you're glad that Rick let you join the group.

Though, something else soon comes over you as you stand watch, a hollow emptiness. A sadness. It reminds you of a book that you had read a long time ago. More specifically of what a certain character had said, about there being no relief in waking. While it was fiction, that character couldn't be more wrong, you think. Instead you find that for yourself at least, there is relief in waking. However, when you close your eyes at night, there is no relief.

All you can ever see when you sleep is the countless faces that will never truly live again.

* * *

 **Well, that's all I have for now! I hope I did the world justice and the style of writing as well. Thanks for taking the time to read it! Have an awesome evening/morning/or day wherever you are! :)**

 **...Sorry if there are any mistakes, tried to catch them all. -.0**


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